Activities & Outdoors in Baileys Harbor

6 places, each with a quick take from us — kept current as hours and seasons change.

• Anclam Park & Beach

  Unstaffed town park; no lifeguard on duty.

  The town beach at the south edge of Baileys Harbor: a sandy, shallow stretch that's easy for little kids, with a playground, picnic tables and grills, and restrooms. Walk out the jetty for the view back over the harbor — a fine sunset spot and an easy place to slide a kayak in. Free, and rarely crowded.

• Cana Island Lighthouse

  $ · Open seasonally — typically May through October.

  A lighthouse that earns the detour. Depending on water levels you may ride a hay wagon across the causeway, which is half the fun.

• Lakeshore Adventures

  Open daily, May through October. Also runs a separate zipline canopy course and Lake Michigan charter fishing.

  The clear-bottom Shipwreck Tour is the one to book: paddling directly over 1800s wooden schooner wrecks in under 15 feet of water, with a stop at the 1820s Bird Cage Lighthouse. Baileys Harbor has more than a dozen accessible shipwrecks, and this is the easiest way to see them without a dive certification.

• Maxwelton Braes Golf Course

  Open ~April–November; some years opens in May.

  Golf has been played on these fairways since 1929, which makes Maxwelton Braes one of the older courses in the state — an easygoing, walkable 18 (par 70) just south of Baileys Harbor, with a lodge and a snack bar at the turn.

• The Ridges Sanctuary

  $ · Trails open year-round; nature center hours vary by season.

  The quiet side at its best: flat boardwalk loops, rare wildflowers, and trails that stay peaceful even in the middle of July.

• Toft Point State Natural Area

  Free, no fee. No developed trail system -- the out-and-back route to the shoreline (roughly 2.3 miles round trip) follows old roads, not marked trail. Dogs are not permitted.

  The county's best-kept hiking secret, mostly because it doesn't have marked trails in the usual sense: you're walking old roads and paths out to a wave-cut dolomite shoreline through one of the state's most botanically diverse sites. Flat, easy, and almost always empty.